By Dr. Joel Scheraga
The Earth’s climate is changing in unprecedented ways. Across the United States, we are seeing more frequent and intense storms, floods, heat waves, and wildfires, plus the spread of infectious diseases like Lyme disease and dengue fever.
Different regions of the country are experiencing distinct threats. The Northeast and Southeast are dealing with intensified heat waves, hurricanes, sea-level rise, and storm surges. The Southwest is dealing with severe drought and wildfires. The Midwest is coping with extreme flooding. In Alaska, the permafrost and ice are rapidly thawing. These events are posing serious risks to the health and well-being of children, teachers, and other personnel in schools across the country.
Students are also at risk of learning losses that might not be recouped. Extreme weather-related events like storms and flooding can damage school buildings and property and force school closures. They can also disrupt critical community services needed by schools, such as roads and transportation systems needed to get students and teachers to and from school. All of the damage can strain school budgets and complicate efforts to keep schools safe and operational.
The climate-related risks can also exacerbate other risks students are already facing. CDC says 40 percent of school-age kids already have one or more chronic illnesses. Extreme weather-related events can make the effects of these chronic illnesses worse. For example, heat waves that lead to higher ozone levels in our cities can reduce air quality and disproportionately affect kids with asthma.
Taking action to increase the resilience of schools is therefore essential. Preparing for the impacts of extreme climate-related events can also help mitigate the effects of existing chronic illnesses. The good news is that the risks are controllable. Unlike wild animals that can only react to impacts when they occur, we as humans have the ability to anticipate and prepare for them.
Just because a risk exists doesn’t mean harm will occur. The question is, how vulnerable are schools across the nation today? And to what extent have schools already anticipated, prepared for, and adapted to the risks so that harm is less likely to occur? Unfortunately, the evidence suggests many schools are not prepared. According to FEMA, approximately 25 percent of U.S. public schools are at “very high risk” for environmental hazards. These schools are in harm’s way, and the children in K-12 public schools who spend an average of 1,231 hours in school each year are also in harm’s way. Actions must be taken to anticipate, prepare for, and adapt to the risks to protect the health and well-being of students, teachers, and school workers, limit damage to school buildings, and reduce the number of school closures.
Risks to Poor and Disadvantaged Communities
Schools in poor and disadvantaged communities are particularly vulnerable to the impacts of climate-related threats and disasters. It costs money to adapt and these communities are least able to protect themselves.
Underserved and marginalized communities have historically borne a disproportionate share of climate impacts and costs. A 2022 GAO report found that most school districts that received key federal disaster recovery grants following presidentially declared major disasters from 2017-2019 had elevated proportions of students who are low income, minorities, English learners, or living with disabilities. Federal, state, and local governments are therefore confronted with an equity issue. Policymakers need to address this equity issue as they make investments to build school resilience.
Damage Is Already Occurring
The risks to schools are real. Numerous examples already exist of school facilities being damaged by extreme weather-related events. Recent wildfires, particularly the January 2025 Eaton and Palisades fires in Los Angeles, destroyed or severely damaged multiple schools. Intense storms and flooding, like those in Colorado in 2013, seriously damaged schools and contaminated playgrounds and playing fields with water laced with sewage, petroleum products, and other contaminants. Crest View Elementary School in Boulder was particularly hard hit. Mud and silt flooded 85 percent of the building, with accumulation as deep as four inches in some areas. The damage translated into academic losses. It has been estimated that in the 2024-2025 school year, nearly 10,000 schools (approximately 10 percent of all public schools) were forced to temporarily close due to weather-related incidents. Over 9 million students were affected by the closures or activity cancellations. In California, more than 1,300 schools and about 700,000 students experienced closures or disruptions from extreme weather. California students lost at least 8,789,704 hours of instructional time.
Damage like this is costly to repair, stressing school budgets that are already overburdened. For example, the floods in West Virginia in June 2016 caused $130 million in damage to regional schools. It costs money to adapt. But investments made today to avoid the impacts resulting from extreme weather-related events—now and in the future—will ultimately save taxpayer dollars. Since a lot of school infrastructure is also long-lived, investments to build school resilience can avoid damage for decades into the future. Schools and school districts face myriad challenges that available budgets are inadequate to address. Budgets are stressed even more now that federal funding has significantly declined. The reality is that investments to build school resilience must be prioritized and balanced along with other important needs such as security, adequate pay for teachers, operation and maintenance of school facilities, classroom supplies, extracurricular programs, and more.
These are the tough decisions policymakers must make. Careful assessments of the costs of adaptation and the magnitude of the damage avoided are essential, so they can make more informed decisions about building more climate-resilient schools.
